James Worthy to be Lakers' studio analyst for Time Warner Cable SportsNet

James Worthy will be bringing his strong opinions on the Lakers more often than ever.

Worthy has agreed to be the Lakers' primary studio analyst during games this season on Time Warner Cable SportsNet, the Lakers' new TV home for locally broadcast games.

"I'm extremely excited," Worthy said in a phone interview Wednesday evening. "It has just become more fun each year."

Worthy, whose No. 42 is one of seven numbers to be retired by the Lakers, has worked on Lakers road pregame and postgame shows for KCAL/9 since 1999. Now he will be working with TWC SportsNet studio hosts Chris McGee and Andy Adler, among others. McGee (@Geeter3 on Twitter) was a presence on Lakers telecasts with Fox Sports West last season and is a longtime expert on the beach-volleyball circuit.

The Lakers will have far more extensive preview and wrap-up shows on TWC SportsNet than previously on KCAL/9 and Fox Sports Net. However the team does as it pursues another NBA championship this season, Worthy -- who has never been afraid to offer sharp criticism during Lakers rough patches in recent years -- will be able offer the perspective of an NBA Hall of Famer who won titles with the Lakers in 1985, '87 and '88.

He said he won't be pulling back at all and is looking forward to the "opportunity to be more insightful to fans" by doing almost twice as many games now that he's not just on the air for road games.

Other members of the TWC SportsNet on-air team besides game broadcasters Bill Macdonald and Stu Lantz will be sideline reporter Mike Trudell and utility reporter/analyst Dave Miller (@CoachDaveMiller on Twitter), who is a longtime basketball coach and has recently offered regular insights for KSPN/710 radio. Besides doing Lakers play-by-play for KSPN/710, John Ireland (@LAIreland on Twitter) will also do some TV spots before and after games for TWC SportsNet.

TWC SportsNet (and its sister Spanish-language network Time Warner Cable Deportes) will be available for Time Warner Cable subscribers but needs to agree to carriage deals with other cable and satellite providers such as Cox Cable, DirecTV and Dish Network before it can be seen elsewhere. The two new TWC Sports networks will broadcast as north as Fresno, south to the Mexican border and in Hawaii and Clark County (Las Vegas).

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